Community Corner

St. Charles Borromeo Seminary To Sell Land, Consolidate Operations

The Wynnewood seminary will retain less than half of its property, the Archbishop announced Thursday.

St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood will consolidate its operations over the next three to five years and sell or lease more than half its 75-acre campus, Archbishop Charles Chaput announced in a letter Thursday.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia will retain roughly 30 acres of the 75-acre, 19 building campus, located off E Wynnewood Road in Wynnewood. Enough space will be maintained to support up to 200 seminarians.

The decision is a result of a review of underutilized buildings by the Seminary's Board of Trustees, the letter states.

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The lower portion of the campus, the College Division buildings, will be sold—but no specific plans for those buildings are in motion, Chaput said. In the next three to five years, the college division program will move into vacant space in the Theology Division buildings on the upper side of the campus as renovations are completed.

"The Board of Trustees will work closely with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Lower Merion Township and the community to develop a comprehensive strategy to re-purpose that portion of the campus with the goal of sustaining and supporting the Seminary well into the future," the letter reads.

Find out what's happening in Ardmore-Merion-Wynnewoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

It continues: "While the Seminary may look different in the future, the Archbishop has affirmed his commitment to the vital importance of maintaining a Seminary for the Archdiocese and keeping it at its current location in Lower Merion Township."

Read the full letter here.


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